Who will be the Vice-Chancellor?

Who should be appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of Denovo University? This tricky question is currently troubling the Higher and Technical Education Department. Because the previous authorities have demolished everything. In such a situation, will the ‘Diploma holders’ once again grab the important posts? If that happens, what will be the difference between earlier JJ and JJ after Denovo? Here is a follow up of this question.

The old lingering problem of JJ School of Art has been resolved now. Denovo will be announced ceremoniously around Diwali. The grand opening ceremony will most probably be held in the premises of JJ School of Art itself. But after that, it is expected that any newspaper or small media like ‘Chinha’ need not feel compelled to publish any news regarding JJ School of Art. Those who opposed Denovo have been completely neutralised. The matter has gone to such an extreme that there is no doubt that those who try to oppose Denovo now will have to pay a heavy price.

Of course, some of these dissatisfied souls will not remain calm. Everyone aspires to a superior position. There is no doubt that such aspiration will be there for the top position at Denovo University. A little stroll around JJ’s campus reveals a lot in the form of whispers. For example, who will get the Vice-chancellorship of Denovo University? For this, a gentleman in the present system is attempting very hard. Since his career so far has been built on such ‘attempts’, if anything happens in that manner, it won’t be a surprise if JJ’s situation worsens.

The reason for this is the recruitment policy of the Department of Higher and Technical Education in the last twenty-five to thirty years. In 1982, two professor posts were vacant in JJ. Today, in 2023, only two out of the 16 professors may be there. The same happened to the assistant professors. That’s why, out of the total number of posts at JJ School of Art, JJ Applied Art and Shakam (Govt College of Art) at Aurangabad and Nagpur combined (the number is estimated to be between 175 and 180), actually have just a few permanent professor posts, perhaps only a dozen of these posts are for permanent teachers. The rest is a chaotic administration of temporary and contract teachers. What will the teacher teach and what will the students learn?

Some teachers had to spend their entire lives carrying the burden of such temporary or contractual positions. Even after thirty years of service in Government Art College, they will not get any benefits of that service. Listening to their stories, pains and sufferings, is heart wrenching. But whom to tell? And who would listen? Even this is nothing. Talented artists like painter Shrikant Jadhav, painter Anant Nikam and painter Anil Naik joined JJ’s employment and retired from the same position after thirty two years. As if this fell short, they were destined to have one of their students as their boss.

How terrible is this? But the Department of Higher and Technical Education seems to have no concern about it. The govt officials with a despicable attitude would think ‘These are mere artists, what will they know?’ and ‘What can they do, even if they know?’ Thus, in the last twenty-five to thirty years, they literally reached the peak of corruption in this department. They left nothing worse to do. As they continued to have equally corrupt ministers, the Directorate of Art and the Art Colleges under its jurisdiction were literally decimated. These ministers and officers in collusion literally destroyed the art education of Maharashtra. Candidates who are not even qualified to be class four employees in such specialized art institutions are indiscriminately hired simply because they live in the same neighbourhood, or live in the same village or are ‘one of ours’. All of them together completely destroyed the Directorate of Art, Government Art Colleges and other art colleges in Maharashtra.

All this went on for thirty to thirty five years. Alumni of JJ like us had been shouting against it loudly. All the corruption was exposed in the media. But all such malpractices would halt for a while. After some time it used to start again. Only because of this, today such a time has come that  the Department of Higher and Technical Education is looking for worthy candidates. No new teachers were recruited over these years. Due to continuous dependence on contractual management, some talented artists and art teachers were barred due to age. Some even left the art field. It is due to this reason only, that now Maharashtra cannot fill the post of Art Director. The same can be said about the post of Dean in all the four government art colleges. There is nothing left to say in polite and civilized terms about the two ‘Gems’ who are currently working in these positions. It is such a dire situation.

The present Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakantdada Patil, after his appointment, first touched upon the issue of JJ and Directorate of Art. It was only because of him that Denovo matter was sorted in such a short time. Now he must be facing the question of whom to appoint to the important positions of Denovo University. Because there are not enough people of that calibre left in the Directorate of Art or the four government art colleges in the state. There would be no wonder if Dada is wondering how to give charge to such few deserving candidates, as no action has been taken by the former officials in this department in terms of giving them due promotions over the years.

Actually, it is a very rare and significant achievement for a college to get Denovo status. And appointing a Vice Chancellor for such a Denovo university is also a big deal. Obviously, it is not surprising if the higher and technical education department has asked the question of who and how to appoint the Vice-Chancellor. But this is their own sin of the last 35 years. And now they will have to bear the consequences. And the responsibility of ensuring that no ‘Diploma holder’ takes undue advantage of all this like earlier, lies with the Education Minister and the Education Secretary. And we want them to solve it in the best possible way. If that doesn’t happen, another fight is certain.

Satish Naik

Editor, Chinha Art News